Neighbors in Desoto Parish get answers on deadly parasite in water

Neighbors in Desoto Parish get answers on deadly parasite in water

The people of Desoto Parish meet with Desoto Water Works Dist. 1 operator, D.H.H. and state officials to discuss the deadly parasite swimming in their water. (Kimberly Rusley)

When will water be safe in Desoto Parish? That's what neighbors want to find out.

Neighbors raise questions about a deadly parasite discovered in water in Desoto Parish.

The CDC confirmed finding brain eating amoeba in five locations throughout the parish.

Officials with the Department of Health and Hospitals, state officials, and the water system operator called a meeting to calm the public's fears.

"I want to hear what they have to say,” says neighbor Curtis Loden. “I want to see if they're going to tell the truth. Do we need to panic, or do we not need to panic?"

The brain-eating amoeba was found in water coming from Desoto Parish Water District #1.

One neighbor says she wanted to hear about the discovery sooner.

"Sometimes you wonder why something that's been tested at the first of the month that has this deadly disease, and you hear about it yesterday," says neighbor Rosanne Garrett.

Officials are testing water all over the parish and burning out the water with chlorine, but they still advise neighbors not to duck their faces in water or get it up their nose.

Plus, they advise to add eight droplets of bleach per gallon of water.

Elizabeth Pickett says her husband's aunt, Diane Pickett, who also lives in Desoto Parish, died in 2011 after using a Neti Pot.

Pickett isn't surprised the parasite has surfaced again.

"And it's our feeling that it's been there the entire time now they can't say, because it's not something that's routinely tested, so we live right around the corner and have been taking precaution since 2011," says Pickett.

She says even if the water is cleaned with chlorine she'll continue to take precautions along with other neighbors.

Copyright 2013 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.